


A Scythe over Tea

by AthenaeGalea



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-03
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-06 07:17:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16827790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AthenaeGalea/pseuds/AthenaeGalea
Summary: Weiss, Pyrrha and Blake discuss sparring strategies against Crescent Rose while drinking tea.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm new to this, so any feedback is welcome. If there's anything spelling- or grammar-related, or you feel any of the tactics described wouldn't work, I'd be especially interested to hear.  
> On the spelling-and-grammar side, I'm English, so a couple of spellings might be regional.

“... And it was at that point that Yang said ‘I think Weiss Schneeds to calm down!’” Weiss finished the story of Yang’s teasing, voice rising with indignation.

Pyrrha chuckled sympathetically, while Blake lifted one side of her mouth in a smile. The three of them were drinking tea together, to get away from those Weiss would call, affectionately of course, “the uncouth barbarians”.

“Yang has always had the knack of getting under your skin,” Pyrrha said. “Though I’m sure she’d stop if you really wanted her to.”

“Hah! She couldn’t if she  _ tried _ .” Weiss had a somewhat lower opinion of her teammate’s self-control. Blake just kept up her enigmatic smile and took another sip.

There was a moment’s silence.

“Don’t feel too ashamed of that fight, Weiss; Ruby’s improved a lot,” Blake said a few seconds later.

Weiss’s face darkened slightly. “Don’t I know it. Now she’s worked out how to counter most of my glyphs, I’m not sure how to win anymore.”

Pyrrha scratched her head and Weiss raised an eyebrow at her. She spoke carefully.

“Well, she has a very good weapon to fight you. You see the scythe spinning and approach cautiously. But that just means you’re stuck at her preferred range, and she’s in control. Similarly to with Nora, but Ruby’s faster. There... were a couple of moments... in your match, where you’d used a glyph to get her off-balance, but then you didn’t follow up.

“Myrtenaster is not an easy weapon to use here. I can use Akoúo̱ to duck into a swing and keep the blade away from me, while at the correct range for Miló in sword form. Blake can jump almost straight through her guard with her semblance.” Blake inclined her head in agreement. “You know your semblance better than I do. How would you normally go about immobilising someone?”

Now all three of them were intent on the discussion. Pyrrha poured herself another cup as Weiss considered the question.

“Well, the simplest way would be to stick some ice crystals to her feet to pin her, but she’s too fast for that. Against someone else I might put a thin layer of ice on the ground, but we’ve trained for that and she can move on it almost as well as I can.”

Blake joined in at this point, “I’ve had some success wrapping Gambol Shroud around the blade. Even if I can’t control it completely, any disruption works in my favour.”

“Hmmm. Would you be able to trap Crescent Rose between two glyphs?” Pyrrha again.

“No. Agh, she’s too  _ fast _ !”

“How about putting a solid glyph... to your right, and fighting with it there?” To the right because Weiss was left-handed, and this way her use of Myrtenaster would be less impeded and she’d be better able to use its limited defence against Ruby’s swings.

“Well, that would limit my movement as well... but not as much as hers. This could work!”

“She is very reliant on momentum,” Blake added.

“So if she swings and misses, and the point hits the glyph, I’ll have an opening. Good thought, Pyrrha!”

Pyrrha smiled nervously. She wasn’t entirely comfortable helping one friend against another, but knew this would help them both in the long run.

By now Weiss was caught up in her excitement, “And the first time I use this, she’ll have no counters! Speaking of which, what would work against this?”

Pyrrha looked thoughtful again. “Well, she can obviously keep you at range if she wants, but I think you’d be able to win there. I think she’ll just reposition herself to keep the glyph behind you. Her constant attempts to do that should give you much the same advantage, though.”

Blake nodded here. “It’s not a sure winner, but it should give you an edge.”

“And hopefully enough of an edge. Thank you both for your help.” Weiss replied.

After a couple of seconds Pyrrha offered Weiss some more tea, and she accepted.

“So how does Yang manage it?” asked Weiss, thinking back to the fights between the sisters that she’d seen.

Pyrrha smiled much more comfortably. Praising a friend’s ability was something she was much happier with.

“Ability to take a hit. She’s willing to grab the blade and maybe be shot a few times to close. The rest of us don’t really have that option.”

“You do.”

Pyrrha scratched her head again. She wasn’t sure what to say to that. Weiss smiled, knowing her friend’s continuing dislike of compliments.

It was at this point that Ruby herself burst into the room.

“Blake! Weiss! Yang’s playing video games and won’t talk to me and I’m bored!  _ OhI’msosorryIdidn’tmeantointerruptyourteapartybye! _ ”

And she left as fast as she’d entered, the door slamming shut behind her. Pyrrha laughed musically,

“Well, I think that’s our cue to end this for today. You’d better go and look after your teammate.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An attempt at an action scene, putting into practice what was discussed. I've never done this before, so no guarantees on quality.

Pyrrha sat in the stands, watching Weiss and Ruby circle each other. She glanced at Blake and received a subtle smile in return. Time to see if this would work.

Ruby stopped, then, as did Weiss. Ruby smiled and casually looped Crescent Rose over her head, cutting diagonally right and down. She spun it, slowly increasing the pace, until she was encased in a deadly metal shell. Now she took slow, steady steps towards Weiss, who stood where she was, a calculating look on her face.

Once Ruby was about five metres away, Weiss blurred into action. As Ruby entered the right-downwards part of her figure-of-eight, a solid white glyph appeared in front of her. Crescent Rose bounced off harmlessly, drawing a small surprised noise out of her, and before she could recover Weiss was on her, getting in a solid hit before Ruby vaulted away with the recoil from Crescent Rose. There. That was the aggression she’d lacked.

Pyrrha had to admit she was gratified that her idea had turned out so well, though Ruby’s sad look did get to her a little. It quickly hardened into something calculating and Pyrrha leaned forward. Here it would get interesting.

Ruby fired some shots at Weiss to give herself time to think, but Weiss had moved the glyph in front of her and was advancing behind its cover. Ruby switched magazine, Pyrrha couldn’t see to which, and fired a shot just after Weiss had wisely rolled out of the way, the shot passing straight through the glyph, shattering it. Gravity dust.

Before Weiss could get up again, Ruby was on her, using the recoil both to push herself forwards and to get Crescent Rose up to full speed. Weiss rolled again, but towards Ruby. Ruby, having to avoid tripping over her, catapulted past, giving Weiss time to recover.

Pyrrha smiled. Weiss had clearly taken the subtler point to heart as well.

Now Weiss and Ruby were staring at each other, about six metres apart. Weiss created the glyph as discussed, in clear challenge to Ruby. Ruby tilted her head, thinking this through. She clearly decided it was worth fighting around, so charged at Weiss, though with a more awkward swing to avoid the glyph.

Now Pyrrha could see in practice just how this shifted the dynamic. Without Ruby’s ability to move unimpeded, Weiss’s much more precise movements were able to have their effect. A small amount of fencing later, with Ruby receiving a minor slash from Myrtenaster, Pyrrha realised what she was doing. Ruby was good at thinking quickly, and she knew she could shatter the glyph with a shot. She just had to manoeuvre, and...  _ there _ . The glyph shattered, but Ruby had been so focused on that that Weiss had an opening. She used it to the full, keeping Ruby off-balance and hitting her a good five times before Goodwitch called the match.

“Excellent work, Miss Schnee. See, children, how Miss Schnee, after her defeat last match,” small wince from Weiss there, “was able to come up with a strategy specifically to deal with Miss Rose. Miss Rose, I expect you to come up with a counter by our next session.” Neither Ruby nor Weiss looked happy at that.

Pyrrha was leaving the class with the rest of team JNPR when Ruby appeared next to her in a shower of petals.

“Pyyyrrha, I need your help.” Pyrrha smiled gently at her.

“I’d be delighted, Ruby.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing that rather more than I expected. It also got me moving, trying to figure it out, which can only be a good thing.  
> It's from Pyrrha's perspective mostly because that means it can be more analytical than exciting, which I think plays to my strengths bett- ... at least not as badly.  
> I'm never quite sure whether Myrtenaster is a rapier or a smallsword. It seems too short for a rapier, but (unless I'm misremembering) she slashes with it a couple of times, which rules out smallsword and means it probably is a rapier. I've also seen it described as a rapier by others, so I'm not sure what to think here.  
> Also, can I just say how pretty the red and white trailers are on slower speeds? They are ridiculously pretty.  
> Comments, as always, appreciated. Even if you think you have nothing interesting to say, I'd love to hear from you.


End file.
